and regimental papers and desks being left behind. The brigade again moved on the 24th, crossing the Etowah River at Island Ford, passing Burnt Hickory, and reaching Pickett's Mills, or New Hope, on the evening of the 26th. Here the brigade was put in line of battle as a support to a part of the Fourth Corps, and at night threw up works covering their whole front. The brigade remained in this position from the 27th of May till the 5th day of June, under fire all the time. Incessant vigilance and resolute determination were all the time necessary to hold the position. The enemy kept up during these days a continuous and fatal discharge of musketry, shell, and canister. The casualties at this point were numerous. During the time the brigade remained at Pickett's Mills, General R. W. Johnson, commanding the division, was somewhat injured by a 12-pounder shell, and being otherwise in ill health was granted a leave of absence. This placed General King, our brigade commander, in charge of the division, and the command of the brigade devolved upon Colonel William L. Stoughton, Eleventh Michigan Volunteers, who retained it until 4th of July following. The conduct of the officers and men during the nine days the command lay at this hazardous point is worthy of great commendation, and I take great pleasure in bearing testimony to their gallantry.

It having been ascertained on the morning of the 6th of June that the enemy had again fallen back from our front, the brigade, with the rest of the army, started in pursuit and marched to a point near Big Shanty, on the Georgia State railroad. Here we remained till June 10, when the brigade again marched, skirmishing and feeling for the enemy till the 22d, when it reached Kenesaw Mountain and relieved a brigade of the Fourth Corps, commanded by General Whitaker. Here we remained within 100 yards of the enemy's works and under fire of his artillery and sharpshooters till the morning of the 3rd of July, when the opposing force once more retreated, and we again followed, picking up more prisoners and deserters by the way. The brigade passed through Marietta on the morning of the 3rd in pursuit of the retreating enemy, following him in the direction of the Chattahoochee River. After advancing about two miles from Marietta, our troops came up with rear of the enemy, and sharp skirmishing ensued, participated in by the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Infantry. This continued till night, when the brigade bivouacked till morning. July 4, commenced pressing the enemy with a strong skirmish line, parts of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Infantry and Eleventh Michigan Volunteers. During the 3rd and 4th the whole brigade was under severe and destructive fire, losing in killed and wounded some 50 men. On the latter day Colonel Stoughton, commanding the brigade, was severely wounded in the leg by a piece of shell. He was sent to the rear, and the command assumed by Colonel M. F. Moore, Sixty-ninth Ohio Volunteers, who retained it until General King returned to the brigade on the 13th of July. The troops behaved with coolness and bravery on both these days, and on the 4th succeeded in dislodging the enemy from their rifle-pits, and driving them into their main line of works. July 5, enemy again gone, having fallen back to the Chattahoochee, we started after and took position on the 6th about one mile to the right of Vining's Station, on the Georgia State railroad, fronting the enemy and the river. Here we remained in range of the enemy's artillery, an occasional shot passing our camp, until the 17th of July, when, the enemy having once more made a retrograde movement, we crossed

36 R R-VOL XXXVIII, PT I